


Tongue-tied

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions, Post-Episode AU: s02e13 Doomsday, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 05:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16907238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Foolishly, he’d thought he’d have more time.





	Tongue-tied

**Author's Note:**

> repost

He had always resented the fact that when he desired to express himself out loud, to be vulnerable and give a voice to his emotions, he was hopelessly tongue-tied. As brilliant and quick-witted as he was at using his mouth during universal emergencies, he cowered under the hold one small blonde human had on his hearts. She was the most important person to him, more valuable than the entire cosmos combined, and he had never managed to tell her exactly how much she meant to him.

She deserved to know.

He had tried on multiple occasions. But every time he’d felt the words bubbling up his throat, they would become clogged and he’d hug her instead, cling to her and desperately attempt to push his thoughts into her mind. And every time he had let her go, he’d witnessed the brief flicker of disappointment, a flash of sorrow in her eyes before she’d smile and shake off the abandoned moment.

Foolishly, he’d thought he’d have more time. But then, in the middle of a battle, in the blink of an eye, she had been ripped away from him. There would be no more chances for him to lay his soul bare before her, to hold her closer while she had been by his side. She was gone, forever trapped in a parallel world.

Instead of finding a way to bring her back, to hold her hand and fly among the stars as though this nightmare had never happened, all he had managed to do was burn up a sun to say goodbye. On a cold and desolate beach in Norway, unable to comfort her while she’d cried, his two hearts had broken into a million pieces when she had confessed her love for him. And then those million pieces had crumbled to dust as he’d only had enough time to utter her name.

Fury had boiled over in his veins and he raged throughout the Tardis, breaking machinery, smashing priceless artifacts. Anything to soothe the searing pain in his chest for a few measly seconds. But it had been a useless waste of energy. It was his own fault she’d never know.

In a fit of anger and regret, he’d stomped up to an old, antique desk, yanked open a drawer, and located a pen and paper. He’d scribbled her name on the top and wrote the words over and over, willing the ink to dissolve, to disperse through universal walls and whisper into her ear. He had furiously etched the letters into the page until each square millimeter was covered, blanketing the space with every chance he had wasted. He had continued writing until the words spilled out onto the desktop and his eyes had blurred with gathering moisture, obscuring the confession she’d never hear.

After his chest had stopped heaving, he’d pinned the paper to the wall, a visual reminder of words that needed saying.

Somehow, he had managed to live on. But he was haunted by the ghost of her scent through the Tardis corridors, the echoes of her laughter in his mind, and the time that had slipped through his fingers.

And then, just as he thought he might be driven to madness by her absence, she was back.   
One moment he was mourning her loss and the next she had popped into existence by the console during a break in the vortex. Before he could process what was happening, she was in his arms once more. He had no idea how she had managed to do the impossible, to breach walls he had been unable traverse and find her way back to his side.

Their reunion hug lasted longer than every other hug combined, neither one of them able to let the other go. When she finally pulled back with a bright smile, he was so overwhelmed by the sight of her, at the simple joy of being able to look in her eyes again, all he could manage to say was, “Long time no see.”

Her grin faltered but she swiftly recovered and let out a light chuckle. “Been busy, you know.” Tucking her hair nervously behind her ear, she picked up the rucksack that had appeared with her. “Just gonna pop this in my room.”

Nodding mutely, he watched her go until she disappeared around a corner and then he slumped onto the jumpseat, thudding his fist against his forehead. He muttered miserably to himself under his breath. He had a gob a million miles long and he couldn’t put it to use when it mattered the most.

“Doctor?”

At the soft sound of her voice, he hopped off his perch with a delighted smile. But his mouth curved down as he witnessed the tears falling from her cheeks.

“Rose?”

A strangled sob escaped her throat and he finally noticed the item delicately held between her fingers. Somehow, she had found the letter he had written long ago, the same phrase over and over that he had never said out loud.

He met her eyes with a shy smile and opened his arms in invitation. Chin wobbling, she flew to him and buried her nose in his neck, wrapping herself so tightly around him that she struggled to draw a breath.

Now that she had seen the words, it was suddenly so easy for him to angle his head just so and whisper in her ear the same vow he had proclaimed in ink. The page fluttered to the ground as he finished his confession with his lips upon hers.

  
_Rose Tyler,_   
_I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you._


End file.
